The Bruins got an answer on one of their offseason question marks Saturday, and it wasn’t the one they wanted.

First-line right wing Nathan Horton is moving on after three years and will not re-sign with the Bruins, agent Paul Krepelka confirmed to the Daily News on Saturday.

Horton is an unrestricted free agent. There were no contract offers exchanged between the two sides.

The story was first reported by TSN.

The Bruins are looking to trade Horton’s rights. They’ve granted Krepelka permission to speak with other teams to find a good fit for the powerful scoring wing.

By trading the rights, the Bruins would acquire an asset and the new team would get exclusive access to sign Horton before the league-wide negotiating window begins Wednesday.

According to CSNNE.com, Horton wants "a new beginning" with a team. Horton will likely command at least $5 million a year on the open market.

Although it would have been difficult given the shrinking salary cap, general manager Peter Chiarelli was interested in retaining Horton.

"I’ve told him that I’d like him to come back," Chiarelli said Wednesday. "We’ll see how it goes."

The Bruins will move forward with several options, including reports that they’ve made Tyler Seguin available in a trade. The Bruins would reportedly like a high pick in Sunday’s draft as well as other pieces.

The Bruins lost their first-round pick in the Jaromir Jagr trade and would like to get back in for what's considered a deep draft.

Seguin is coming off a poor postseason in which he had just one goal and was demoted to the third line. He’s entering the first year of a six-year, $34.5 million contract and development has been slow in coming for the 21-year-old, the No. 2 overall pick in 2010.

"He’s a young, explosive player that didn’t perform exactly the way we had envisioned (in the playoffs)," Chiarelli said. "But he’s young and he makes plays and he makes timely plays. There’s only good things in store for him."

The Bruins have already lost Horton and won’t re-sign Jagr, and if they get rid of Seguin as well, they’ll be without their top three right wings from last season. They reportedly have interest in Vincent Lecavalier, who was bought out by the Lightning last week. Lecavalier has played center most of his career, but could be willing to switch to the wing.

Carl Soderberg could also be an option to move into a top-six forward spot.

Horton was a money player in three years with the Bruins since they acquired him and Gregory Campbell in a 2010 trade with the Florida Panthers for Dennis Wideman and two draft picks. In 43 playoff games with Boston, he had 15 goals and 21 assists, including two Game 7-winning goals in the 2011 run to the Stanley Cup.

Page 2 of 2 - Both times he played in the postseason, the Bruins reached the Cup Final. Horton missed the 2012 playoffs with a concussion and the Bruins went out in the first round.

Working on the No. 1 line with Milan Lucic and David Krejci, Horton at his best was a hard-skating finisher and checker. At 6-foot-2 and 229 pounds, he and fellow big body Lucic physically intimidated defensemen into coughing up the puck.

The line was the best in the league during the playoffs. Krejci led the playoffs in scoring at 26 points, Lucic and Horton tied for second with 19 each.

Horton had an inconsistent regular season this year, compiling 13 goals and nine assists in 43 games. He lost interest for long stretches and strayed from the physical elements of his game.

In the playoffs, Horton played through a left shoulder injury that will require surgery.

Chiarelli is also taking calls to trade the rights to defenseman Andrew Ference, who will become an unrestricted free agent Wednesday. The Bruins are not bringing Ference back next season.

Chiarelli has given Ference’s agent, Kurt Overhardt, permission to speak to other teams to facilitate a trade as well.

"I’ve got a couple of teams on Andy," Chiarelli said at a press briefing in Jersey City, N.J., before Sunday's draft in Newark. "Yeah, a couple of teams on Andy, and I’ve spoken with Andy’s agent in order to help out, and I’ve actually given Andy’s agent permission to talk to teams and then come back. I’m not going to stand in his way.

"As I said at my press conference before, he’s been a warrior for us, and I want to help him as much as I can."

Chiarelli has issued qualifying offers to Tuukka Rask and Jordan Caron. Chiarelli and agent Bill Zito were set to meet this weekend to discuss a long-term contract for Rask.

The general manager is still deciding if he’ll qualify Kaspars Daugavins before the July 2 deadline. A source told the Daily News on Friday that the Bruins were "upbeat" in Daugavins’ exit interview and he is expected to return.

Dan Cagen can be reached at 508-626-3848 or dcagen@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanCagen.